Do you watch TV? Are you a lazy enough fatass to not flip to another channel when commercials come on (assuming you’re not one of those idiot hippies who watches public “redistribution of wealth” television)? Well, then maybe you’ve seen that Esurance commercial.

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Esurance is an online cartoon insurance company. One of their selling points is that, since they operate entirely online, they use less paper and are therefore “Green.” They also plant trees.

The commercial I’m talking about features music from the Minneapolis-based musical group Cloud ^[1] Cult ^[2]. It’s basically just a Cloud Cult song over Esurance’s stylized animation. For thirty seconds! And it even says “Cloud Cult” at the bottom of the screen, with a URL to this website ^[3].

The connection is that they are both “Green.” Cloud Cult has:

- CDs made of recycled materials (no idea how this is done, but ok!)
- Gone on tour in a biodiesel tour bus
- Planted 1000 trees (not shown: the 10,000 trees they used to make a single box of toothpicks, ala Looney Toons.) (Just kidding.)

Esurace has done similar stuff, but who cares.

So, while I find insurance an admission that something might go wrong that I might not be able to handle myself–a sign of great weakness–I am nonetheless pleased that our local arts scene has nurtured such talent as to make it onto a national “I’ll bet you don’t crash your car” company’s radar. And onto the Tee Vee!